Hi
Where do you start. There are many reviews on the is castle so let me take a different tact and tell you how we ended up here in the middle of winter. We travel each year to Canada to go Skiing. Some years back we did the Asia loop out of Brisbane Australia which gave us a very cheap airfare to Vancouver rather than via the US or direct Sydney - Vancouver. The catch was you had to spend 2 nights in Asia somewhere so we picked Phuket. As a result we have decided to purchase a Villa there. The Asia route has gone and the round the world airfare was the next best thing which took us direct from Brisbane to Bangkok (then to Phuket for 2 weeks) then from Bangkok to Frankfurt. So rather than miss a bit of time in Europe I looked up accommodation in Frankfurt on this site and after several suggestions from travellers I decided to surprise my wife and daughter with a stopover in a real live castle.
So here we are, it is a freezing cold dark rainy night and we are about to step into this structure straight out of Dracula. You drag your bags across the timber bridge as the rain blasts up from the old town below. It is after 7pm so the porter service does not exist. Up a steep stone, rain swept path to the front door of, we hoped the castle. (not well sign posted on a cold winter night) Through a small door in a door and up the stairs to reception. So far.... you have the picture? You cold tied and pissed off. Great because that is what we were until we opened the door to the warmest place in Germany. As you can see from the many photos this is a beautiful hotel. I have stayed in many around the world and this fits the top 3. (Sorry Le Meridien you drop to 4). Any way back to the story. We were shown into the study where there are hundreds and hundreds of old books set in the solid old stone walls. There in front of a raging open fire we are served coffee (I had a beer) and a small snack. Not one of the books were in english or at least we did not find any. Pitty as it would have been nice to settle in browsing over some old text. We are then shown to room 13 (you need to visit the site ( http://hotel-schoenburg.com/castle-oberwesel-rhine/index.html) in order to see which one I am referring to.) The view is spectacular and the room amazing. My daughter was shown to an anti room which was through the amazing bathroom.
Our bed was unbelievably comfortable and the room in general warm and cosy. As we settled in and our bags were brought to the door (thank goodness as it is a bit of a climb to the room as we had yet to discover the small mirrored lift that we could have used.) We were very tied from our flight so we settled in to a good night sleep. The wind blew in and around the many high cold stone walls while the rain relentlessly drummed on the double glazed windows. All the while we remained so warm and cosy way in our room it was almost a pity to drift off to sleep.
The morning saw much of the same so we rugged up and drove to Koln (or Cologne as some like to write it). Back to the castle for diner and the food was fabulous. Set in one of the most beautiful rooms in the castle we dined on fish and venison along with some local rhine riesling.
The following morning we were woken by thunder and more rain and wind but to head down to breakfast past the open fire who cared. Once again the food was as you would expect, unreal.
We stayed for 4 nights and I must say we were glad to head back to Frankfurt and on to our skiing.
As a winter destination it is great for a night or two but there is little and I mean little to do in the town as most everything is closed and that included most of the pubs. We drove up and down the road beside the river, on both sides and the same is to be said in most of the beautiful villages that line the river at this point. There are the vineyards but again most of those were closed as well.
in all a fantastic location and I could imagine in mid summer sitting on our balcony sipping a fine white over looking this historic river while being served a silver service meal. There are stairs and halls and hidden rooms and lots of nooks and crannies through out the castle that would keep those of younger years tied up for hours. However as a holiday location in mid winter it is not. Which is borne out by the fact that the weekend after we left the castle closes till later in the year. We enjoyed our stay and as noted the location is excellent. Faults although few are that the porter service ceases early and starts late. This is a 5 star hotel and should have this service available at all hours. Some form of castle tour would also be nice rather than being told to just buy the book and read it.
If you go in summer I am sure you will love the place but leave it as just a stop over in winter or if you want to say you stayed on the Rhine in a spectacular castle then, sure.
- Castle Hotel Oberwesel
